Carriage Ride Home
by luffy fan
Summary: Lucy and Gray take a carriage ride home after completing a mission.  Gray wants to stay over at Lucy's apartment but Lucy's nervous about his intentions.  Where's Natsu in all this?
1. Chapter 1

Gray, Natsu, and Lucy were all trudging back towards their home city. They had just completed a mission and although no one was seriously injured, they hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, 12 hours ago. To make matters worse, the client didn't have any money to pay them. Natsu had shrugged and told the man who had hired them that payment wasn't necessary but Lucy was worried about next month's rent. The mood among the team was a starting to get a little sour.

"Urgh, my feet are killing me," complained Lucy. "I can't wait to get home a take a hot bath."

"You should let Gray take a bath first, he stinks," grumbled Natsu.

Gray's hand shot up and smacked Natsu on the back of the head. Natsu punched him back at a fraction of his full strength. The dragon slayer was too tired to deliver any serious punishment.

Lucy groaned. "Does this mean you guys are planning on coming over to my place _again_? Why can't you guys hang out at your own apartments?"

Natsu smiled at Lucy and put his arm around her shoulder. "Your place is the best. You have the most food and the most comfortable bed." He ruffled her hair playfully.

Lucy frowned and poked Natsu in the chest. "You are _not_ sleeping in my bed. Last time you came over I ended up sleeping on the couch and I am too tired for that tonight."

"Can I get the bed if I give you a ride the rest of the way?" Natsu motioned towards his back with his thumb.

Lucy considered the offer. Her feet were starting to blister and there was a good chance Natsu would end up sleeping in her bed anyway. Gray interrupted before she could answer.

"How about we hitch a ride on that?" Gray pointed to a small carriage that was being drawn by a single, sturdy looking horse.

"Not transportation…" groaned Natsu. His extreme motion sickness made him steer clear of any vehicle that moved.

Gray ignored him and jogged up to the carriage. Natsu and Lucy waited while Gray negotiated with the driver. A few minutes later he came jogging back.

"He's heading our direction but he's carrying luggage for a wealthy family so there isn't much room inside," explained Gray.

"That's fine because I'd rather walk." Natsu looked down and kicked a stone in the street.

"How much is it? I'm worried about making my rent this month," asked Lucy.

"Not much. I'll treat you."

That was all Lucy needed to hear. "See you later, Natsu," she said without a glance back. She was already at the carriage's door. She peered into the tiny compartment.

"It's almost completely filled with luggage. I don't think we can both fit."

Gray opened the door and hopped in. "No problem, you can sit in my lap." He pulled Lucy up and shut the door behind her. He peered out the window at Natsu and called out to him. "You should think about staying at your own apartment tonight. I'm not planning on leaving you any hot water or food."

Natsu gave him a dirty look and the carriage pulled away.

"That wasn't very nice," said Lucy with a small frown.

She felt Gray shrug and he leaned in so that his mouth was just inches from her ear. "I've had enough of Natsu's company for one day."

Lucy shivered. "Are you cold?" asked Gray. He rubbed his hands against shoulders. "I almost never notice when it's cold out."

Lucy shook her head. She was keenly aware of the touch of Gray's body against hers. She could feel his thighs beneath her own and his chest against her back. Thank goodness he was wearing a shirt, she thought.

It wasn't just Gray's proximity that was distracting. She was pretty sure that he was flirting with her. During the rest of the trip back, his fingers seemed to keep brushing against her thigh. Each time they did, Lucy imagined she could feel traces of his touch lingering after the contact between them had broken. Gray carried most of the conversation, keeping it light, but he was talking almost directly into her ear and Lucy could feel his breath against her neck.

Lucy's mind was racing too quickly to focus on most of what Gray was saying. She kept trying to sit up so that she wouldn't be pressed against the ice wizard so tightly but a bump in the road or a shift in Gray's position would inevitably send her back into his arms. She was also starting to worry about what would happen when they reached her apartment.

Two hours later, the carriage pulled up to Lucy's apartment. She had the coach's door open before they had even come to a complete stop. "Thanks for the ride," she said quickly. She went to close the coach's door behind her but Gray was already coming out. "I'm not really sure I have any food," she continued. "Maybe tonight isn't that best night to crash at my place."

Gray was paying the driver. "I'm sure we can find something," he said smoothly. "You always seem to have something to eat at your place and I'm starving."

Lucy's shoulder's sagged. They had gone so long at food it would be cruel not to offer Gray something to eat. "Okay," she mumbled. She unlocked her apartment and they strode in.

As soon as they were through the apartment door, Gray immediately took off his shirt. "Ahhh, much better," he sighed.

"You shouldn't go stripping in other people's homes," she scolded. Not that it would do any good, Gray was always undressing.

"Would you like for me to put something together for us?" asked Gray. Lucy shook her head and shuffled him out of the kitchen. "I'll just make us a few sandwiches," she said.

When Lucy was done with the sandwiches, she came out to find Gray reclining on the sofa. He was practically taking up the whole thing and it would be hard to sit there without sitting in his lap again.

Lucy put the sandwiches down on the coffee table. "Move, I need a place to sit too."

Grey smiled up at her and moved an inch deeper into the sofa. "There's plenty of room," he said with a flirtatious pat at the cushion in front of him.

Lucy felt panic begin to boil up inside of her. That was definitely flirting she thought. Oh god, what should she do.

"Uh, oh. I forgot the mustard," Lucy babbled and turned around hastily. She was too flustered and forgot that the kitchen door was closed. She ran smack into the door, hard enough to fall to the floor.

Lucy lay on the ground a few seconds too embarrassed to move. God, she was acting like an idiot. Gray's face came into her vision.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," she grumbled. "The only thing hurt is my pride."

Lucy felt Gray's arms wrap around beneath her. He lifted her up and carried her over to the couch.

"This really isn't necessary," she said. She was starting to blush. "I'm fine."

Gray laid her down and looked at her. "I think you're going to have a small bump on your forehead."

"Great, just what I need."

Gray put his hand over the spot where she had connected with the door and Lucy instantly felt it turn cold.

"Guess that spell comes in handy for us klutzes," she joked. She still felt embarrassed and was blushing. Gray brought his other hand up.

"You feel kind of warm," he said, stroking her cheek.

"Well it's your fault." Lucy closed her eyes and tried to calm herself. After a couple seconds, she opened them and saw Gray watching her, waiting for her to continue. "I keep expecting you to make a move on me," she finished.

Once Lucy had said it, she felt better. Gray would now correct her and they would laugh about it. She waited for the teasing to start. Nothing happened. "Uh, Gray?"

"Well, I'm trying to but you seem all jumpy and it's making me nervous."

Fear clenched at Lucy's gut. "Well, if you're nervous, maybe you shouldn't do anything."

Gray frowned. "So you don't want me to kiss you?" he asked.

"Uhhh, uh," Lucy stumbled, feeling panicky. "I don't know… Well, I guess… Ahhh…"

Suddenly she felt Grey's mouth press against hers. His lips were soft and coaxed hers into kissing him back. It was wonderful. Grey was only the second boy she had ever kissed and that was counting Elliot Measter from the third grade. Lucy eased into the kiss and felt her trepidation melt away. What had she been so scared of? This was great. Lucy ran her hands through his hair, bringing him closer to her. After a few minutes Gray pulled away, much to Lucy's annoyance.

Gray was grinning at her. "So, what do you think?"

"I think you are a good kisser." Lucy wrapped a hand around the back of his neck and brought him into another kiss. Gray was starting to climb on top of her when they were interrupted by a crash outside.

Lucy and Gray stared at each other for a minute and then realization washed over them. "Oh crap, that is probably Natsu," said Gray.

**Luffy fan: I have just spent several weeks watching this anime and I love it so I wanted to write a quick little story. I have a couple other stories that I need to finish so this will only be another chapter (I think). I also had an idea for a Lucy X Natsu story but I want to finish up some other things before I tried that. I would love any reviews! Thanks for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

Gray, Lucy, and Natsu all made their way back from Lucy's apartment towards the Fairy Tail guild. Happy had gone on a date with Carla last night so he hadn't joined up with the usual gang. Natsu was busy pointing out which restaurants had "all you can eat buffets" but Gray wasn't paying much attention. He was thinking about what had happened between him and Lucy last night and what he would try to do today.

Everything had been going really well until the stupid slanty-eyed dragon slayer had shown up. In typical Natsu-fashion, he helped himself in through the window and interrupted Gray's make-out session with Lucy. Gray had wanted to try to make it clear to Natsu that he and Lucy were moving into the "couple zone" but the blond wizard had blushed and inched away when Gray tried to put an arm around her. What was worse, later that night after everyone had gone to bed; Gray had woken up to find Natsu missing from the other couch. The ice-wizard had quickly padded into Lucy's room to find Natsu sprawled out on the bed next to her. Gray had quickly remedied the situation by dragging him from the bed. Lucy had woken up, looking bleary-eyed but dismissed the two men when she saw what was happening and went back to sleep.

Gray didn't think Natsu was really interested in Lucy but it was hard to tell. The two were definitely close friends at the very least. There could be a few other potential rivals as well. Loke had been gazing longingly at Lucy while she was out tanning just last week. Gray should know, he had been right next to the celestial spirit. The two had watched as Lucy rubbed suntan lotion over her smooth skin, which was mostly visible thanks to the tiny bikini she had been wearing.

The plan for today was simple. Go out on a mission with Lucy, and only Lucy. Once the two of them were alone, Gray would work on changing a single kiss into a solid relationship.

Once they got to the guild, Natsu thankfully got distracted by Happy and left Gray alone with Lucy. Lucy wondered over to the job's post board and started to read the fliers. Gray was appreciating the view of her back side when he heard a small snort. He looked over at Laxus and Bixslow who were both clearly leering at Lucy and trying to hold back laughter. They were probably saying something perverted. Gray shot them a dirty look and went up to join Lucy.

"See anything interesting?" he asked.

"Hmmm, I dunno yet."

Gray's eyes fell on a flier and his hopes lifted. "Hey Lucy, what about this job here?"

The flier described that some vandals had broken into the local ice skating rink twice this past week. What was strange was that all of the doors had been locked so the owner suspected that someone might be using magic to sabotage his business. The job paid 100,000 jewels which would make a nice dent in Lucy's rent.

"You wanna try that one? It doesn't really seem like a three person job; four if you count Happy."

"How about just the two of us do this one."

Realization crossed Lucy's face and she blushed. "Uh, I guess that would be alright. We've never done a job before, just the two of us. Do you think it will bother Natsu?"

"Natsu's a big boy, I'm sure he'll understand."

An hour later, Gray and Lucy were boarding a train that ran to the north end of town. After the attendant had taken their tickets, Gray pulled Lucy into an empty compartment and started kissing her. Lucy kissed him back eagerly, wrapping her fingers in his hair. Gray pressed her against the wall but resisted the urge to roam her body with his hands. He knew that Lucy hadn't had a boyfriend before so he wanted to take things slow with her.

He nibbled her lower lip and then moved his way down to the crook of our neck when she let out a soft moan. Excitement spiked inside Gray and he pressed against her harder. She was starting to pant and Gray was almost trembling from trying to restrain himself. Who would have guessed that sweet little Lucy had such a wild side?

Finally, Lucy pulled away. "Wow, I mean wow!" she sighed. "Is all kissing usually like this?"

Gray smirked. "No, that was pretty hot. Either you're a natural or you've been hiding a boyfriend or two."

Lucy nodded solemnly. "No, I've never had a boyfriend before."

That seemed like a good opening for Gray to start a conversation about where exactly they stood with each other. He knew people might assume he was a half naked pervert but he wasn't really like that. He wasn't interested in dating lots of girls, he just wanted Lucy. He was about to bring this up with Lucy when a whistle blew and the train lurched to a stop.

"Hey, we're here," said Lucy. She reached up and pecked Gray on the cheek before opening the compartment door. Noise and bustling people greeted them. The conversation Gray was hoping to have would have to wait until later, he thought.

**Luffy fan: Any good? Did you prefer Lucy's point of view (POV) or Gray's POV?**


	3. Chapter 3

Gray and Lucy walked to the ice rink and knocked on the door. A middle-aged man with a potbelly stomach and glasses opened the door.

"Yes?" he asked.

"We're the wizards from Fairy Tail. We hear your having a problem with vandalism?" said Gray.

The man, who later introduced himself as the owner, ushered them inside. He showed them around the rink and described what sort of destruction had been done. The rink appeared in tip top shape now but apparently he had opened the store to find skates thrown about rink and threats written on the glass enclosures with ketchup from the snack bar. The owner had at first chalked the whole incident up to a random act but the same thing had happened two nights later.

"Well, don't worry. If they try anything again tonight, we'll be waiting for them." Gray shook the man's hands before he left.

Once they heard the door close behind him, Gray turned towards Lucy and grinned. "This place is perfect, I love ice skating. Do you know how?"

Lucy nodded and with some light convincing, the two wizards went to the skate rental room and got a pair of skates. Gray couldn't help but feel that there was something eerie about the large, empty ice rink. Oh well, he thought. You couldn't really ask for a better job/date than this. He was completely in his element. Now was his chance to show off some of his sweet moves.

Gray glided onto the ice and skated backwards a little. Lucy followed suit, albeit, a little more wobbly. "No fair. You're an ice wizard," she called out laughing. Gray smiled and dashed off around the rink at a quick pace. When he got back around to Lucy, he dug his skates into the ice and skidded to a stop. Lucy squeaked and shielded herself from the spray of ice.

"There's no way I can keep up. I'm having trouble just standing here."

"No problem, I'll help you."

Gray held out his arms and Lucy fumbled for him. She grabbed his arms and skated forward slowly while Gray glided backwards.

"See, you're not half bad."

"Yeah right," she laughed.

The skated a few laps and Lucy started to feel her confidence grow a little. "Okay, let me try it without the training wheels."

Gray reluctantly let go of Lucy at which point she promptly fell on her butt. "Ouch," she exclaimed, rubbing her rear.

Gray tried to hold back his laughter and was helping her up when loud music started blaring through the speakers and the disco ball hanging in the center of the ice rink began rotating.

"Are you doing this?" Lucy asked.

"No, looks like we might have company."

The couple started to move off the ice but Lucy had become nervous and was having more trouble moving. Suddenly, a hotdog shot through the air and hit her square in the face. The shock of the projectile made her lose her balance and she went down again.

"Hey," she shouted. "Who threw that?"

Gray looked around but didn't see anyone. Suddenly, another hotdog was flying towards Lucy. Gray, being the heroic man that he was, jumped in front of the hotdog, taking a direct hit from the mysterious meat substance.

"Whoever's doing that, it isn't funny," he called out. The music stopped and they waited in silence for the intruder or intruders to make their next move. Suddenly, dozens of hotdogs, burgers, and French fries descended upon them in a fast food barrage. Gray even thought he saw a basket of nachos whiz by. The ice wizard artfully dodged the attack, looking around wildly to see who was casting the spells.

"Oh man, this is a new outfit."

Gray looked down. Yes, there had indeed been nachos and now Lucy was wearing them. Nachos cheese dripped down from her head and landed on her shoulders.

"Uh, maybe Virgo will have something nice for you to change into later," he offered.

Gray had given up on having Lucy skate off the ice and instead, scooped her up in his arms. Once they had gotten off the ice, the couple quickly started to remove their skates. Gray had just gotten his off when Lucy starting screaming.

"Gh-gh-ghost!"

The celestial wizard grabbed his arm with one hand and pointed above him with the other. Gray looked up. Above him was a translucent white figure. It was only about two feet tall and looked suspiciously like a miniature version of the Staypuff Marshmallow Man.

"That thing? That can't be a ghost."

The soft-looking creature flew up into Gray's face.

"Boo!" it shouted in a childlike voice.

Gray jumped back, surprised that the little guy could talk. He regained his composure and swatted at the spirit. Sure enough, his hand slid right through the little bugger. The ghost laughed and flew away.

"Hey get back here," Gray shouted.

Lucy was cowering behind him. "How are we supposed to fight a ghost?"

"I'm not sure it _is_ a ghost. Besides, it's a spirit right? You control spirits."

Lucy blinked up at him. "You're right." She stood up and dusted off her skirt. "There's probably someone controlling it. This looks like a job for Fairy Tail's number one celestial spirit!"

Lucy pulled out her Lion's gate key. "Open the door of Lion's gate!" she called out.

Gray sighed. Sure enough, Loke appeared before them. The celestial spirit ran up to Lucy and took her hands in his. Gray couldn't help but notice that Lucy blushed a little.

"Lucy, what's wrong? What do you need me to do?"

Lucy pointed to the little white ghost that was now dancing on top of the disco ball. "Stop that spirit, he's destroying this place."

Loke looked up at the little spirit and smirked. "What, Gray couldn't handle Casper?"

Gray scoffed and looked away. "You know what they say, fight fire with fire. Or in this case, fight a pest with another pest."

Loke frowned at Gray. "What's wrong with you? You're treating me like Natsu. Speaking of Natsu, where is he?"

"He's not here. It's just Lucy and me on this mission."

Understanding crossed over Loke's face. "Ah, I see," he said giving Gray a sly wink.

"Are you going to help us or not?"

The little ghost was back at the snack bar, rustling through the garbage. Loke dashed over to him and bonked him on the head. The spirit fell to the floor and started crying.

Loke looked sympathetically at the little guy. "Maybe I was too hard on him. Now you just need to find out who's summoning him."

The three guild members ran outside. Two teenage boys with spikey hair and pimples were standing there laughing. When they saw the trio, they bolted. Gray and Loke chased them down, tackling them.

"Hey man, get off me," one of the kids shouted.

"What are you guys doing vandalizing the ice rink?" demanded Gray.

"Man, the store owner's a jerk. He kicked us out last week."

Gray took the silver key from the taller boy. They called the local authorities and soon, the two juveniles were carted off.

"Thanks Loke," Lucy said.

"Anytime." And with a pop, he vanished.

Gray turned towards Lucy. "Well, that didn't go too bad. Sorry your outfit got ruined."

"No problem, that was kind of fun." She grinned up at him, melting his heart.

"Hey Lucy, I wanted to talk to you."

"Yes?" She looked up at him with sweet amber eyes.

"Do you wanna be my girl?"

Lucy smiled and jumped up, wrapping her arms around him. "Of course!" She kissed him.

"Hey Lucy…"

"Yes?"

"Do you want to try one of those cute celestial outfits?"

**Luffy fan: Hope you liked it. This last chapter got a little goofy but it was fun to write!**


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